🌿NEW THING — BE REFRESHED
Pathway through the Wilderness… Rivers in the Dry Wasteland
When Life Feels Like a Wilderness
What does your wilderness or dry wasteland look like?
We all have them — those barren spaces in our hearts or lives where hope seems lost. Sometimes, they exist because we haven’t allowed God into those areas. Other times, we’ve lingered there so long that we’ve unknowingly pushed Him out.
Yet God’s heart is clear: He wants to make a pathway through your wilderness so you can find your way out. He wants to create rivers in your dry wastelands so you can be refreshed again.
“For I am about to do something new.
See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”
— Isaiah 43:19–20 NLT
When God’s People Forgot
The children of Israel found themselves in wilderness places too — both physically and spiritually. Through repeated disobedience, they drifted from God. Their ancestors had seen miracles — the Red Sea parted, manna from heaven — yet generations later, they no longer knew Him as Redeemer.
Still, because of His great love, God came once again to rescue His people. He longed to bring them out of captivity and into freedom.
And He longs to do the same for us.
Recognizing Our Own Dry Places
We often create our own wildernesses.
We cling to habits and lifestyles that draw us away from God, or we compartmentalize our faith — inviting Him into some areas while keeping others off-limits. But that’s not relationship; that’s restriction.
“Oh, how often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness
and grieved His heart in that dry wasteland.”
— Psalm 78:40 NLT
“In the wilderness their desires ran wild,
testing God’s patience in that dry wasteland.”
— Psalm 106:14 NLT
A Personal Wilderness
For years, my husband didn’t even realize he had created a wilderness — a spiritual dry land where God wasn’t welcome. He had once accepted Christ and attended church occasionally, but over time, life and new surroundings drifted him away.
When we moved to Arizona, the friendships that helped keep him connected to God were left behind. His new circle didn’t know God or desire to. He wasn’t living a wretched life — but he wasn’t living a life for Christ either. And that, my friend, is a wilderness.
For years, I tried to be the bridge — striving to “be Jesus” to my husband through my own actions, praying that my example would bring him closer to God.
“Be devoted to your own husbands, so that even if some of them do not obey the Word of God, your kind conduct may win them over without you saying a thing.”
— 1 Peter 3:1–2 TPT
Striving in the Desert
I meant well. But in my striving, I created my own dry wasteland. I carried a burden I was never meant to hold — trying to be the Holy Spirit in my husband’s life.
Eventually, the Lord showed me that my role was simply to reflect His light, not replace His work. Once I surrendered my striving, I found peace. I stopped forcing transformation and started trusting the One who brings it.
And that’s when refreshment began to flow — not just in my husband, but in me.
Rivers of Renewal
Today, I see glimpses of God’s new thing in my husband — small changes, quiet moments, little acts of care. It may seem minor to others, but I refuse to limit how God works. He’s making a pathway in the wilderness and rivers in the dry wasteland of our marriage.
It’s not about comparing our story to anyone else’s. It’s about trusting that God’s miracle will look exactly how He intends it to — uniquely ours.
Now, I see the river.
I see the pathway.
And I see His promise unfolding.
God is doing a new thing — in my husband, in our marriage, and in me.
đź’§ Be Refreshed
Let go of your striving.
Let go of the idea that you can “fix” what only God can redeem.
He’s already begun the work — can you perceive it?
“He will make rivers in your dry wasteland,
so His chosen people can be refreshed.”
— Isaiah 43:20 NLT
““When you stop striving to be the Savior, you make room for the Savior to move.””
đź“– Closing Reflection
Take a moment today to ask yourself:
Where have I tried to control what only God can do?
What dry places in my life need His refreshing touch?
Am I willing to let Him create a new pathway — even if it looks different than before?
Be still. Look to Him.
The river is already beginning to flow.
If this message spoke to you, join me on the journey of Doing Life Anew — where we rediscover what it means to walk with God, renew our minds, and live refreshed in His presence.
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